Bienvenidos a Guatemala

i'll come up with more catchy titles later, but for now, welcome to guatemala. i survived my first week of class, and though i still feel, like a friend said, deaf and mute, i'm learning and it will only get better. i have made several observations this week that i wanted to share, but now that i'm sitting at the computer all of my previous observations evade me.....
my favorite food so far: the tacos that Thelma made on monday night... wow! none of the food has been bad so far. i mean, cream of wheat is edible. but some of it has been really good. so you are probably thinking "don't they just eat beans and rice there?" the answer is a resounding no. today for lunch, we had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and fresh avacado. mmmmm.
sometimes, a slightly inebriated individual is a good person to practice spanish with. especially if the inebriated person in question also speaks english. thelma's cousin, edgar, who lives in rhode island, came over the other night. we all sat around the table, them talking, me trying to listen - usually in vain. but the conversation eventually turned towards me, and they asked me some questions. edgar, who had been drinking a little bit of whiskey throughout the evening, began to ask me question in english about my religion. he, of course, is catholic. anyway, we talked for quite a while, some in english, some in spanish, about lots of things and the conversation kept coming back to Jesus. edgar said "i like my drink, but i follow Jesus Christ, and i live my life for him." as wierd as it may sound, edgar was very encouraging to me, and i probably talked more in spanish that evening than i have up to this point.
i'm sure there is much more i could tell you about. but that is good for now. please pray for me as i continue this adventure. it gets kind of lonely, and it's definitely not easy. but i'm glad i'm here.